Here are some people I meet at dog parks. What kind of people do you meet at dog parks?

-The guy that loves to play fetch with his dog and gets pissed off if another dog (ie: a Shiba) grabs his ball and runs away-The guy who kicks his dog for being aggressive at the park-The guy who walks around the perimeter of the park with his dog on leash then gets upset when other dogs (ie: a Shiba) comes and humps his dog (perfect hump target coz he's leashed and can't do much about it, rite?)-The guy whose massive dog likes to randomly jump on people, even leaving a shiner on my eye (somebody asked me if I'd been to Fight Club)-The guy with the timid, tiny dog on the big dog side that gets pwned by every other dog (including hypothetical Shiba)-The dogless guy with treats in his pockets-The guy who's there to talk about Obama vs. Romney more than having a good time watching his dog play-People whose dogs hump each other constantly and they're "ok with it"-People who get really upset at any sign of humping or 69ing - I'm guessing because they're sexually repressed themselves :p-The guy on the cell phone whose Husky enjoys running down scared little dogs-The guy who gets upset because dogs are barking at each other in a dog park-The guy who brings his daughter is screaming at and scared of every dog in the park (including their own)-The guy who is upset about domesticated foxes-The guy who is upset about miniaturized wolves-The guy who insists to other guy with children that his dog isn't child aggressive (even though it obviously is)-The guy with the dog who pees on chairs-The guy who lets his dog leave elephant sized dooks everywhere-The guy who gets pissed off at barking dogs interrupting his cell phone conversation-The guy who leaves his aggressive, bully dog at the park to go have a cell phone conversation in his car-The lady who can't stop talking about how gorgeous her dog is-The lady who knows everything about every dog species, who then proceeds to educate you about yours-The guy who can't identify what playing dogs look like - "he's biting her legs!! tell him to stop now!!!"

- The guy who ALWAYS wants to talk to me (and any Asian he encounters) about dog-eating, because it's a strange topic of obsession for him. AUUUUGHGHH!!- The guy who somehow thinks you're a walking translator or Encyclopedia because you have a Japanese dog with a funny non-English name and starts asking you how to translate his dog's name/breed/etc. into Japanese or Chinese (this has happened to me at least three times, strangely)- The aging hippies with acoustic guitars or ukeleles, singing peace ballads at dogs who freak out about their instruments- The regulars with the sweetest dogs whom, upon seeing, you crouch down and basically allow to wriggle all over you and to French kiss you in greeting, and you can call them all by name though you don't even know the human's name- The hired dogwalkers who swarm by with huge PACKS that are clearly over the legal limit, but somehow they get away with it every day because their packs are all relatively well-behaved- The old couple with a similarly aged quintet of Siberians -- the husband always gets down on one knee like a knight in the presence of royalty when he sees Bowdu, hoping for a sign of acknowledgment as he buzzes right by

• The woman who brings her leashed dog (and doesn't remove the leash) into an off-leash dog park and gets annoyed when dogs crowd her• The woman's Chihuahua (or most toy dogs) who "guards" them at the park, resulting in the dog barking or growling at any dog that simply runs past them• The guy who brings his overly high-energy dogs right after he gets home from work, having them terrorize everything and everyone• The guy who asks me what breed my dog is, doesn't believe me, and continues thinking that I have a "miniature Husky" despite telling him over and over• The woman who brings an infant into a dog park and gets mad at dogs swarming her or jumping on her

This thread is awesome! Yesterday I took my puppy to the dog park for the first time (to celebrate him receiving all his shots a few days ago) and a woman silently creeped up to me and said "don't bring your puppy here until he's at least 6 months old or he'll become aggressive". Thanks for the advice but who the heck are you? At least introduce yourself and not creep up on me =/

-The guy who can't be found every time their dog starts in with other dogs, even when people are kicking his dog off of theirs'.-The woman with the kids that can't decide which section to stay in, often leaving the gates wide open.-The lady who tells people to alpha roll your dog and force him to be crotch sniffed by other dogs because that's apparently the answer to every altercation.-The guy who gets frustrated because their puppy, who's too young to be allowed in the park in the first place, is being wussy and should learn to man up.

The couple who bring their bitch in heat with a cute diaper on, stay at least 30mn, most of which are spent with the dog in their arms, causing some of the male dogs to fight (and some get kicked by their owner or the owners of the other dogs), then leave saying they should leave because she's in heat and they don't want to "chance it"!!!!

Love this list, have to say though I haven't experienced too many people there I am uncomfortable with, but here are my additions:

1) The owner who brings their dog into the section with agility obstacles (which in actuality has become a medium dog meetup area for the most part at this particular park we go to) and gets upset when his dog prefers to go running with the other dogs rather than do the equipment. Add to the fact you can tell this owner has no idea what real agility is even about.

2) The owner who brings their dog to the off leash park, knows that using the come request will not work, has been there almost an hour, then has to spend 10-15 minutes more figuring out how to corral their dog back onto a leash in order to leave without using the come command because they can't enforce the command and they have no treats to reward the dog as they know better than to bring treats into the park amid all those dogs ... yes, this one is me LOL

The person who brings a picnic in to sit on the "picnic bench" even though the sign says "no food", and are surprised when the dogs want some of their lunch/dinner too.

I have to say that I'm probably "the guy with the dog who pees on chairs" (though I swear it's only on the legs of the benches and varied assorted trees, rocks, fences, grases, etc.) or I could also be "the lady who can't stop talking about how gorgeous her dog is," (but I try to keep it down to repeating "my baby, my baby" in hushed tones while burying my face in their coats and only around specific regulars).

@awe46m3 you forgot it is ...... don't bark, don't chase, don't jump, don't have fun, just don't be a dog. LOL And yes, I am that lady with the recall issue, but I know enough not to be that dumb owner who just stands at the gate saying "come xxxx" 100 times with no response like their recall ability will have magically changed since the day before.

-Owner with 5huskies yes he brought five huskies to the dog park? Crazy! lol Owner proceds to go out of dog park with his five dogs waiting in the dog park he comes back with big box of ol roy dog treats! D:

He then hands them to every dog that comes by him..

Bella resource guards treats so I ran and told her drop and leave it. Told him not give the dogs treats.

He must been dense as he walked to Saya and tried give her one. She isn't dumb and she drop the ugly basted treat. She knew a bad treat when she tasted one. I told him again to stop this your going to cause a fight. He then takes the treats to car then says there happy!

I think he meant well, but that is dangerous most dogs resource guards food around other dogs especially dogs they don't know.

Some dogs could be allergic to a treat too! >.<<br />I've had a lady ask if I mind if Saya gets a treat it was a dehydrated lamb meat.. It was only her and her dog was away exploring. I said sure. Coarse Saya spitted it out, but she likes those types treats.

I guess she doesn't like taking treats from strangers which is good.

-Owner who sat on the grass to read magazine and realized she sat on dog poo.. >.<<br />I never sit on ground there since no one picks up the poo plus sometimes people do actually miss their dog doing it so I can understand that Bella done that once..

I make amends by picking poop I found while walking to clear my poo karma.. haha

-That guy who always brings his aggressive dog to the park even though it's attacked other dogs with basically no provocation and says that it would never actually hurt anyone. If I ever get his name, I'm reporting him to the park district (which has no small part to do with the fact that my dog has decided he doesn't like this dog after he attacked a lab puppy that my dog was playing with).

-The people who bring their now reactive dog to the park after it's been attacked in order to resocialize her and make her okay with big dogs again, even though said dog was very, very seriously injured in the dog attack (we're talking ER visit). Their dog is clearly terrified by dogs any bigger than, say a very slight male Shiba, (and even him at first) and keeps trying to jump into their laps in sheer terror.

-The people who bring their old, grumpy dog who doesn't want any dog but his housemate within about a foot of her. To be fair, I really don't think he would bit any dog, but a dog that spends the whole time walking the edge of the park and growling at any dog that comes too close would be happier at home.

-The woman who brings her very friendly dog that desperately wants to play with the other dogs but starts kicking at other dogs when they try and play with her precious, perfect (50 lb) baby. Never met this woman but heard about her from other dog park members.

The worst part? These owners are all nice people, they just need to recognize these dogs shouldn't be at the dog park (or in the case of the middle people, seek a behaviorist).

Not at a dog park, but it seems a heck of a lot like a dog park to me:

At the petsmart where I work-The couple who bring in their new GSD puppies, a brother and sister of course, who are strangely calm, scared of everyone yet the owners keep shoving them in people's faces telling them to "buck up", and they're 5 months old and wearing choke collars -_-

- the couple who bring their senior newfie with severe hip dysplasia and then start yelling at dog owners whose dogs run near the newfie, causing her to atartle and therefore be in pain. Meanwhile their young newfie (seemingly temperamentally unsound) is unsupervised and picking fights with any dog that catches its eye.

- (seemingly super common) the person that brings dog treats gives them to all dogs without asking, and starts cursing off the poor owner who has now asked multiple times that the person not feed their dog, or puts the treats away.

- The people who are absolutely sure my dog will not be reactive to their dog, because their dog is good with other dogs. Unbelievable...- These same people who then proceed to try to convince me to go into the dog park with my dog reactive dog. This happens A LOT when I pass by a small dog park close to my home with my dogs and I check if it's empty to see if I can go in. I never go in if there are people there (unless I know the dogs and know 100% sure Shiro is okay with them), but they see me walk by and start telling me it's okay to come in. Even after I tell them it will not be okay if I go in... - The people who get upset with me for leaving the park when they want to come in and tell me it is so sad for their dog not to be able to play with mine. They are still upset when I tell them why I am leaving (dog reactive Shiro). It baffles me how many people are willing to sacrifice their dogs after I have told them my dog WILL bite their dog. Of course I ignore these people, but still...- The people who ask me if I have tried Cesar Milan's techniques to 'fix' Shiro's 'aggression' problems.- The guy who is in that small dog park for about 20 minutes while I am walking around the field in front of the park and surrounding blocks, who then leaves, sees me walk towards the dog park, chases me down to it and after I tell him my dog is reactive and I couldn't go in when he was in there, puts his dog in the park and asks if I can keep an eye on the dog while he uses the public bathroom... and when he is done (I was standing perplex in front of the park), he goes back into the park and decides to stay a little longer... Oh and soooo many more :)

- People who understand dogs and realize when they reach down to touch Bear because he is sniffing them, but he backs off, that this is okay so they turn their attention to talk to me instead and don't reach down again to prevent startling him again

- People who understand that when Bear and their dog are being mouthy (soft mouthing not biting) as they run and rolling over each other at the end of the chase that this does not mean aggression or fights are happening it is just the two dogs playing

- People who know their dog well enough to know when things are not play and step in to correct their dog or remove their dog before their dog escalates

- People who share your desire to enjoy the dog park so will take action if/when something needs to be reported or handled because another owner is oblivious

-The gal who tries to pet cute Shiba furball who keeps unapologetically dodging her fingers-The guy who tries to get somebody else's cute Shiba furball to come to him (good luck, man.. it doesn't work for me!)-The guy who takes things from dog park (buckets, 20x poop bags, spare leashes)-The way too nice guy with a dog who's a total dick-The guy who brings McDonalds to the dog park

- The folks who Furminate their dogs at the park, leaving behind billowing clouds of undercoat scattered amongst the weeds... (I don't actually mind this, I'm just surprised I don't see it in action more often, given the frequency of the evidence!)

@redcattoo: thanks for adding this positive spin, I love going to the park and so does Kimura. And I'll add the super nice girl who helps me entice Kimura to come back and holds her so I can put the leash on and leave without running around the park for an hour (because I am the girl who has a shiba with zero recall and brings her to the park anyways...) :D

@Kimura .... I need one of those super nice girls at my park, send her my way. I am that girl also that has a Shiba with recall at the dog park only once he is tired enough and has made his own decision it is time to go home. I often have to time my exits when there is a window of no new dogs because every new dog in has to be endurance tested for a run by Bear.

Dog park people can be very nice. Yesterday, a 60+ woman slipped on a wet rock and fell at the dog park. 911 was called and we immobilized her shoulder and then she was taken to the hospital. One of the people there volunteered to watch her dog until she got home. Today I learned she had fractured her shoulder but is doing well.

Although I found this thread entertaining, it was more educational. I'm not so sure I want to bring my dogs to a dog park now. It certainly gives me a mental list of things I should not do, although I cannot control what my dogs do 100% since they have never been to one. Is it really bad to keep your dog leashed? I thought I'd do that when I first try out a dog park because I don't know any of the dogs, and how my dogs will react. I do know they will most likely ignore me when I call them. I am not so worried about Kaji since he is still in the puppy forgiveness age and very social, but I won't want to unleash Taisho since he seems to be uncomfortable around larger dogs, esp any larger dogs that I show an interest in. I also thought of letting Kaji loose with his leash on, so I can grab him quicker if he gets a little too personal with another dog. And I do know that I won't be bringing both at the same time until they both listen well.

@amti - Most dog parks have a rule that leashed dogs are not allowed inside the off leash area. There is a very good reason for this. So if you are unsure of how your dog will do at an off leash park, then I would suggest going at an off peak time when there are few other dogs there.

BUT... If your dog is uncomfortable around other dogs (even just larger ones), I would highly suggest staying AWAY from the dog park. There are tons of other ways to socialize dogs and IMO, dog parks are way too risky and unpredictable to get any good socialization done anyway.

If both dogs do not have a good recall (or other manners/training), then I also suggest not going to the dog park. You need to have some sort of control over your dogs, even in a fenced area such as a dog park.

Casey, with Bella and Nola, hanging out in the mountains of Virginia.I Wander, I Ride

@amti don't leave the leash on. There are dogs that are reactive to dogs on leash while at the dog park. If your dog is social why not bring them to the dog park? It's a nice way for them to play and learn mannerism from other dogs.

If you're scared then find a group of people to meet up with. If hes scared of big dogs, Put Taisho in the small dog area so he can build up his confidence.

@amti If you're not comfortable with bringing your dog to a dog park, then don't go.

Yes, it's as bad as they say as far as leaving a leash on inside a dog park. It creates tension and reactivity. I've had to personally ask a guy at a Shiba meet-up to take his leash off because his Shiba was lunging and growling at everyone that attempted to sniff him because his owner was keeping a tight hold on him -- NO ONE said anything to him! As soon as he took the leash off, his Shiba was an entirely different dog and played with others just fine. There's no point in going to a dog park if all you're going to do is stand there and have your dog leashed while he's watching others having fun. I would definitely not recommend just leaving his leash on and letting go, since others could see that as as a toy, people can trip, etc.

"Antisocial Chuck-It" owners make me the most livid, that's for sure. One thing I've noticed is when Sagan retrieves a ball that they threw and he's off into his own little world playing with it, the owner comes up to me and normally with a rude tone, "Hey, I need my ball back. That's personally mine." It makes me incredibly annoyed because they actually have the expectation that no other dog is going to take a ball in the midst of a dog park. Yeah, that's realistic. >_>

I've been lucky times I used to go the chuck it owners never got rude, but yeah all their dog cared about was chasing the ball and my dogs wanted to play with the ball dog..

When the dog ran to get the ball they thought the dog was playing chase..

My dog park has three fenced areas small dog side, large dog side 1 and large dog side 2 most hang in large dog side 1 so to me the ball throwers should go to #2 so their dog has all the space to chase the ball without getting bothered.

Luckily none of them resourced guarded the ball if a dog tried to get the ball.

I could imagine the issue especially the ball being their ball from home a dog might resource guard it..

Husky was guarding six balls once and any dog that walked by it ran to chase it off even if the dog wasn't paying attention to the balls owner just thought it was cute. :\

lol, People playing fetch in the dog park always pose a problem for me. I'm fine with them playing fetch as long as they understand some dogs will take their ball and RUN! Luckily though Guts likes playing fetch. So he'll bring the ball back. Other people usually are pretty impress at how well he plays fetch. But my problem with it is. Guts really likes playing fetch. So he usually takes a bit to decide if he's gonna follow me or stay with the people and play fetch. If he stays, I either have to grab him or wait until he's done playing.